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Friday, April 21, 2006

Secret is out...

So we have been alluding to something that will be happening for a couple weeks now - we couldn't be very specific because of the public nature of the website. What's going on is...... We got a book deal!

Okay, okay.... no, not really! We are leaving the land of dryness and the different shades of brown to an area of (from what I have seen so far!) of wetness and many shades of green! We are on the move to Maryland!

Jeff has accepted a position within the same company and we will be on our way as soon as the house here gets a contract on it! I have never lived on the east coast, so this is quite an exciting move! Jeff is from the east coast and will be working with some of the same people he did while he lived in Maryland a few years ago! We were out there looking at houses (sticker shock!) and the real estate market seems to be pretty close to what is happening in Phoenix. We drove out there (total of about 36 hours... we went through a lot of construction!) so we could move one car and since Jeff has family out there, we brought along the pets as they offered to watch them while the house is for sale. Poor Spike, he looks so bored!

The next few weeks are going to be exceedingly busy with trips back out there and trying to keep the house clean for showings - yesterday we had a showing and they called to view the house just as I pulled the last batch of the cookies out. I'm wondering what I will do if I'm in the middle of baking something and someone just shows up! So things around here might be spotty at times if we are out travelling. So... I never thought this far ahead I guess... can we still be Culinary in the Desert if we don't live in the desert anymore? Any tips for life in Maryland? Or... anyone want to buy a house?

So with that out of the way... we can move on to tonight's dinner. Stir-Fried Chicken Salad is a quick, light and easy salad that was a refreshingly healthy change from some of the on-the-road food we had. The chicken is quickly marinated in a combination of flavors that ends up being the dressing for the salad. Quicky stir-fried in peanut oil, the chicken turned out quite juicy and tender. I used a bagged baby romaine mixture for the greens and there was just enough of the slightly sweet dressing to coat everything fairly well. Chopped peanuts are added at the end to bring a crunchy and nutty finish.

awesome!I've been reading your blog forever, but have never commented, but felt compelled to as I am also moving to Maryland in a couple of months!Exciting changes for you and Jeff! Good luck with everything!

Hi and congratulations! I think that you should be baking A LOT. Nothing sells a house better than the scent of bread (or cookies) in the oven. It was an old real estate sales trick to put a loaf of bread into the oven prior to a house showing. (But I get what you mean--I hated having to be ready to leave at a minute's notice when we sold our last house.)

Hey, nice news!! I hope everything goes well and you get a good deal on your house! Wish you both lots of fun and happy times in Maryland!!Let us know how things go and keep posting the delicious recipes!!Ana

Good luck with the move Joe & Jeff! The bulk of my relatives live in Pasadena and Ellicott City. Would love to stop and visit you guys sometime when I make a trip up there LOL...only if you're baking though :-)Seriously, I think you'll like Maryland....I bet you'll be cooking up a lot of the Chesapeake Bay crabs....they have GREAT seafood markets in MD!Val

Good luck with the move Joe & Jeff! The bulk of my relatives live in Pasadena and Ellicott City. Would love to stop and visit you guys sometime when I make a trip up there LOL...only if you're baking though :-)Seriously, I think you'll like Maryland....I bet you'll be cooking up a lot of the Chesapeake Bay crabs....they have GREAT seafood markets in MD!Val

I hope you enjoy your new home and surroundings.Your blog can be called anything you'd like as long as you continue sharing your wonderful recipes and cooking style with us!I start having withdrawals if you don't post for a few days.Good luck with the sale of your home, the move and all that is involved.

I hope you enjoy your new home and surroundings.Your blog can be called anything you'd like as long as you continue sharing your wonderful recipes and cooking style with us!I start having withdrawals if you don't post for a few days.Good luck with the sale of your home, the move and all that is involved.

Thanks for all of the well wishes and tips! We have not really had much thought on the website name... I like some of the ideas here though! It is getting a little harder trying to keep stuff pretty clean for showings while trying to live life! I'm not sure how long I could do this and keep my sanity! The last move (from MN to here in Phoenix) we were pretty much already moved out by the time the house went on the market!

Joe, good luck with the move. It must be so exciting.A new experience. I hope all goes well in the house selling front. I am sure that the baking batch coming out of the oven the viewers had a wonderful impression. I wanted to use this opportunity to say 'Thank you'for the tip on Small-Batch Baking. I have bought the book and it is great.Suits my lifestyle quite a lot. I might not often leave a message here but I do visit your blog regularly.

Congratulations on the move- how exciting! Doesn't matter what you call the blog- just keep posting! I visit a few times a week and thoroughly enjoy your excitement about experimenting with new foods and recipes.

Joe (and Jeff), wow! And here I was complaining about my move. (Which was just to a house around the corner from ours). Maryland?!? Wow, that will be a complete change of pace and scenery for y'all. Good luck with your move, and I hope y'all still manage to find some time to enjoy your last days in Phoenix.

I think it would be a great thing if somebody came to see your house while you were baking. I remember hearing that the smell of baking bread made a home seem cozier, homier, and more appealing to prospective buyers, so I imagine cookies would be just as enticing. Good luck!

Congrats on the new life ahead! I'd say keep the name, but it's mainly because I wouldn't have to change it on the blogroll then...

It's a tough housing market out there at the moment. My brother and his wife are selling a house very similar to yours in Litchfield, and it's been on the market for a month now. Nobody with kids is moving until school's out.

A cross-country move sounds like such a fun thing to do this summer! grin

Seriously, think of all the great food you'll be able to get fresh! I can't imagine living so far away from the coast that I can't easily get fresh seafood and living where the boat lands 5 min away and it's cheap, I am in heaven.

I spent half a year in Maryland a couple of decades ago and it was beautiful. Coming from the west coast, it was interesting to be in a place where you could go so many different places in just a couple of hours. You can get to more 'regions' quickly--sort of pseudo-Europeanish. Drive a few hours one way and you're in NY, a a few hours another way and you're in the south. The east coast also has a lot more visible history (monuments, museums, places I studied in school, etc) than the west, which was its own kind of cool.